IPL 2018: Retention event watched by millions

The Indian Premier League (IPL) fever is abuzz among the Indian cricket fans and enthusiasts from all across the globe. The domestic T20 league has successfully completed 10 years of its existence. The IPL is set to be back in 2018 much bigger and better. This season will also mark the comeback of the suspended teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. The return doubles up the excitement for the fans.

All the IPL teams will be revamped this season. However, the IPL Governing Council has allowed a maximum retention of 5 players keeping the fan-connect in mind. The players can either be retained or Right-to-Match(RTM) cards can be used in the auction. The player retention event took place on January 4, 2018. It was broadcast on the Star Sports network.

Retention event on-air for the first time

The new season also marks the entry of a new broadcaster. Star Sports has acquired the television and digital broadcast rights for the mega-event. To make things unique, the retention event was broadcasted for the first time ever. The audience was glued to their television sets and mobile phones to watch the event.

According to a statement by television network Star India, the event was viewed by an audience of 8.1 million people across both television and digital formats. As per data released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), 4.1 million television viewers watched the event across the Star Sports network. Another four million watched the event on digital platform Hotstar. The retention event was also trending in the social media.

The BCCI CEO, Rahul Johri said in a statement that “The discovery and nurturing of great cricketing talent and developing the cricketing infrastructure throughout the country, are important pillars of our mission at BCCI.”

“Therefore, a quantum increase in the growth and popularity of the VIVO IPL 2018 would immensely scale up deliveries on those important fronts. We are delighted that with the transformative technology and the might of TV and digital combined, the VIVO IPL 2018 seems poised to be bigger than ever before,” he added.